Take off your mask!

"Having spent time around "sinners" and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus."

-From: What's So Amazing about Grace? by Philip Yancey

Can't help but agree with this statement. It's takes so much extra energy to get to know someone that is wearing a mask. You constantly have to question whether they are being genuine, or if they are pretending to be the person they want to be. There is no clear-cut way to decode the actions of a mask-wearer, but you can always tell when they have one on. It's a lot less energy to befriend someone without a mask, they have nothing to hide, they aren't embarrassed, they are in general less hypocritical, and you always know they are being real because they have no reason not to be. In the end isn't it about relationships?

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." -Matthew 22:36-40

I think that many people think that in order love God we have to be perfect because Jesus was perfect. There is just one problem with that, HE WAS GOD! Jesus never wore a mask, he didn't have to, he was perfect. He doesn't want us to pretend to be perfect, that basically defeats the whole principle of his sacrifice for us. Of couse we should strive to be good people, but the change should come from within, the very definition of a mask implies that it is external. Galatians 2:6 says "...God does not judge by external appearance..." So in order to love God, we require no mask, and in order to love others, as the second part of the commandment commands, we CANNOT wear a mask. How can we say we love someone if we do not give them enough respect to show them our true selves? If they judge who we are without our masks, does it really matter? God is the only judge that matters, and he sees through our masks anyway.

Wearing masks causes us to be judgmental, hypocritical, political, insensitive, and out of touch with reality. This is not the type of person Jesus wants us to be. Currently I am reading a book called UnChristian : What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity...And Why It Matters so far it's a good read, it mostly consists of research. The main point the book is trying to make is that the reason most 16-29 year olds don't accept Christianity is because of the behavior of Christians.

Another book on my summer reading list is No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. I am already excited about that one.

"Connect with God, Connect with others." That's a pretty good paraphrase of the Great Commandment, and I'm glad to be part of a church that prioritizes that, just as Jesus commanded us to. When we prioritize the way Jesus prioritized, there is a lot less mask-wearing going on.